Mbare Market Uprising: Traders Demand Chiwenga’s Intervention Amid Alleged ZANU-PF Extortion

The Mbare Musika Market Hub (image source)

Tensions are reaching a boiling point at the newly reconstructed Mbare Musika Market, Zimbabwe's largest informal trade hub. Vendors are accusing ZANU-PF-linked officials and Masimba Holdings—a firm contracted under the “Building Back Better” initiative—of extortion and arbitrary exclusion, prompting a bold appeal directly to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.

In a striking move, traders bypassed Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe, sending a letter to Chiwenga:“Knowing your warm heart, we are looking forward to your usual assistance.”— signed by market leaders Roderick Maposah, Josiah Rovai, and Stephen Tsopo.

The vendors complain that stall sizes shrank drastically—from 2.5m x 2m to just 1.2m x 1.2m—while monthly rent surged to US$200, compared to the former US$25 council rate. Many traders, including the elderly and those from child-headed households, say they have been priced out of their livelihoods.

Sources say Minister Garwe, a staunch Mnangagwa loyalist, was angered by the direct appeal to Chiwenga and subsequently formed a task force. However, its mission ended without resolutions—an outcome traders described succinctly: “No agreement, no outcome.” Political analysts point to deeper fissures within ZANU-PF, interpreting the traders’ appeal to Chiwenga—seen as a potential successor—as a subtle political maneuver. The market, they argue, has become a symbolic political arena.

Chief Director Nathan Nkomo denied that Masimba Holdings had privatised the market, describing it instead as a tripartite arrangement between government, city council, and the company. He also revealed a temporary concession reducing monthly rent to US$80, down from US$120, for those displaced by the 2024 fire. Traders, however, insist that actual implementation has been inconsistent.